Anna Chen is an experienced Primary School Teacher based in North London who is also a Dyslexia Specialist. She works in a North London Primary School as a Literacy Specialist Teacher as well as working privately from home.
Anna has been using Phonic Books for several years after they were recommended to her by a colleague. Her school has a selection of the readers and activity books, and she has bought some herself to use as part of her teaching. Anna teaches pupils from Year 2 to Year 6, ages six to eleven years.
“I have a short amount of time to meet with my pupils and I need to gather information quite quickly on where they are with their phonics skills and how best to move them forward. I use the diagnostic assessment on your website as an entry point as it tells me which Phonic Books series to start with. It’s really quick and easy to use, it’s one of my go-tos.”
Anna told us she has used nearly all the Phonic Books series in her one-to-one classes and that she loves using Dandelion Readers, Sets 1-20, as well as Levels 1, 2 and 3. She uses Dandelion Readers with children who are younger than seven. With pupils who are eight or older, she swaps to using Talisman, Magic Belt or another catch-up series that feels more grown up and has a storyline that continues throughout the series. “For me, Phonic Books is so crucial to my teaching.”
“Every lesson is different depending on the pupil and their needs. We will often start with some rhyming or a card game, depending on what is suitable for them. They may need movement breaks so I’ll ask them to go to the whiteboard or do another activity. With some learners, it might take them four to five weeks to learn the /a/ sound, whereas for others it’s one to two weeks. Some children take longer to cement the sound. With these pupils, I would remind them of the sound, we would read the book together and then we might re-read it the following week. Then I use one of the activities from the activity book for writing and comprehension. It really does support the lesson and it’s so helpful for busy teachers. I can use it alongside learning in the lesson or it can be supplementary and I can give it to them for homework, if it’s something I think the pupil can manage on their own or with a little help.”
Something Anna loves about Phonic Books is that the text is accessible and that it reinforces the spellings and sounds that she is teaching in the classroom. She finds the vocabulary list at the start of each book (which highlights words with the focus sound) so supportive for teaching any children with dyslexia. She likes the comprehension questions at the back of some of the books as well, saying, “Teachers have so much to remember: we’re writing notes and we’re assessing the pupils’ progress at the same time. I can come up with my own comprehension questions but it’s so helpful to have them right there when you’re a busy teacher and you’re trying to juggle a lot of things. I typically only have 35 minutes with my pupils, normally back-to-back, and I’m rushed off my feet, so anything that helps me is great.”
She thinks Phonic Books has made a huge impact on her pupils. “They’re really helpful. I love that they’re systematic and that the progression is so logical; it supports the children and the teacher. I teach a lot of pupils and I want to do the best I can for all of them, so Phonic Books decodable books and activity books are invaluable for me.”